Ah, yes...

 "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah".  Romans 9:29, Isaiah 1:9.

What constitutes a Christmas movie?

it's a debate that a certain news channel had this week in respect to particular films - whether they really were right to place in that category or not - and the results seem to reflect the notion that a movie can be included, if there is a redemptive aspect to the story... hence Die Hard is a Christmas film!

The events recorded in the second chapter of Matthew are somewhat 'outside' the conventional Christmas narrative. Rather than speak about the inn and the manger, the shepherds and the glorious visitation of angels, Matthew takes us to a scene quite a distance away and some length of time after the actual birth itself to introduce us to a group of strangers - aliens to Israel - who had come at great cost to themselves to find the one which certain astronomical 'signs' had pointed to (see Genesis 1:14 for the first affirmation this would be so). 

Foreigners to the realm, they had headed to the capital in search of the King that was to be born (Matthew 2:2), but when they reach the place, they find no such birth, only a shrewd power in Herod, who quickly becomes unsettled at such a potential arrival. He calls for his research group to examine the assertion, and sure enough, the words of the ancient prophet Micah (5:2) appears to correspond with what the strangers are seeking - a new ruler is expected!

So, Herod finds himself facing the possibility of the rise of a new King in the land, one he clearly deems to be an immediate threat to his own position and authority, and he clearly doesn't like the sound of that. He advises the visitors to earnestly look for and find the new child, and when they have done so, to come back and tell him where he is 'that I too may come and worship' (Matthew 2:9).

The entourage resume their journey, finally find the child (note: Child, not baby, who by this time is living in a house there - verse 11 - not a stable), presenting him and his mother with the treasures they have brought.

What happened next is telling and chilling.

The pilgrims are told by God to return home without returning to Herod, and the new royal family are instructed to now leave for another country - to effectively become refugees - because of what's about to happen... Herod's genocide of the children of Bethlehem (verses 10-18).

So, here's the question - why didn't the 'Wise Men' do what they were instructed to do by a King? Well, runs the reply, because an angel told them not to, so the reason is because they have a mandate which is superior to the orders or requirements of mere men.

What about us? As we enter the Christmas season, have we heard the voice of the Angels in respect to what heaven calls for us to be and to do, even if it means departing from the "requirements" being made by what is happening around us?

Let's be clear - we're in the midst of the manner of horror enacted in Herod's day. People are seeing life as it was, for numerous reasons, being destroyed and taken from them - there is indeed a deep weeping in Ramah! The church is the one place where the consolation of the ages can be found, but that aid comes within the very pertinent realities of today, not distanced from them.

Christ was born into a world filled with woe and evil, and in that place 'became sin for us' to bring genuine healing.

Our solutions to troubles are always 'leaky' - as with the current MRNA materials, they leave us all vulnerable to the transmission of what can harm and kill, to the risk of believing that if we subsume what is good to the will of those who seek to constrain us to what they deem right, we can gain 'safety', but it is only the safety of the shedding of blood of Him who is singularly righteous that will prove eternally good.

We come to behold the one come amongst us - to worship the truth that there is the true home of all who are delivered and healed by unmerited mercy alone.

O come, let us adore Him!